A Canadian man is suing the country’s government after he was arrested by border agents and detained for eight months – despite producing evidence of his citizenship.

Olajide Ogunye, 47, is seeking $10m in compensation from the Canadian government after he spent months incarcerated in what his lawyer has described as a “profoundly disturbing” case of mistaken identity. Ogunye was approached by border agents and detained outside his Toronto home in June 2016, even though he produced citizenship papers and a government-issued health card.

The agents disputed the validity of the documents and brought him to a detention facility near Toronto Pearson airport, where they fingerprinted him and alleged his prints matched those of a fraudulent refugee claimant who was deported to Nigeria in the 1990s. “It is shocking,” said Adam Hummel, Ogunye’s lawyer. “Even people who are having their citizenship revoked … are not detained like this.” The results of the fingerprint analysis – which Hummel says were never shown to his client – were contradicted by numerous sworn affidavits by friends and neighbours who had known Ogunye for years. Ogunye, who immigrated to Canada from Nigeria with his family and became a citizen in 1996, was moved between Maplehurst correctional facility and Central East correctional centre.(theguardian)...[+]

Italian prosecutors dropped a sexual harassment case against a former head of the country’s football federation in part because they thought the woman who made the complaint was old enough not to be intimidated, it can be revealed. A report by prosecutors in Rome, compiled earlier this year and obtained by the Guardian, said the allegations of harassment and groping against Carlo Tavecchio were likely to be accurate, but that the case was not pursued because it had been reported too late to authorities. However, the prosecutors outlined further reasons for their decision not to pursue the allegations against Tavecchio, made by Elisabetta Cortani, the president of the Lazio Women’s football club, who was 50 at the time. The report said that Cortani’s age and the fact she had dealt with Tavecchio in the past, meant she would not have been in a state of fear or subjugation.

Tavecchio’s controversial tenure as head of Italy’s football federation ended in November. He resigned after the men’s national team – four-time winners of the World Cup – failed to qualify for this year’s tournament. Tavecchio had also been frequently criticised for a series of racist remarks. According to the prosecutors’ report, Cortani’s complaint, filed on 24 November 2017, was based on two incidents reported to authorities.. Tavecchio has denied that the incidents occurred.(theguardian)…[+]

The lower house of Argentina’s congress has narrowly approved a bill that would legalise abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy in what has been described as a historic move. The bill was narrowly passed by the chamber of deputies by 129 to 123 votes on Thursday and will now go before the senate. Argentina’s president, Mauricio Macri, has said he will sign it if it is approved.

The vote in favour means the homeland of Pope Francis could become one of Latin America’s most progressive countries on reproductive rights. “We are dealing with a public health issue that cannot be addressed with blinders, nor with morals and ethics and much less religion,” opposition congresswoman Mayra Mendoza, one of the driving forces of the proposal, said in a speech. “This is also a matter of social justice.”

The opposition, as well as allies of President Mauricio Macri, were divided on the issue. Macri has encouraged his party members to vote as they see fit even though he is personally opposed to the proposal. Mariela Belski, Amnesty International executive director in Argentina, welcomed the move. “New legislation could end a vicious circle where women have no option but to risk their lives, their health, and their freedom if they are sent to prison,” she said.(theguardian)…[+]